25th Mar 2008
Webcasting police man
The Chief Constable of Merseyside police regularly posts a webcast on topical matters. This week’s, on guns, has captured the news agenda. You can view it here.
Bernard Hogan-Howe, Chief Constable of Merseyside, said the mandatory five-year minimum sentence for possession of a firearm was being ignored by some judges.
According to the Times online:
Mr Hogan-Howe, whose force is investigating the murder last year of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, said “very heavy sentences” were essential to deter criminals and teenage gang members from carrying weapons. It was, he said, “simply wrong” for judges to overlook the legal requirement to hand down a five-year sentence.
“The big issue for me is getting the guns out of society,” Mr Hogan-Howe told The Times.
“There will always be gangs and criminals but today it is the fact that they carry guns which makes them truly intimidating. If we can get the guns out of their hands then we will make our society safer.
“The message the criminal justice system sends out about the serious consequences that flow from possessing a firearm is an important part of deterring people from carrying guns.”
The Home Office confirmed that the five-year sentence for possession of a firearm, introduced in 2004, was not being uniformly imposed around the country.
The average sentence handed down for the offence in 2005 was 47 months and only 40 per cent of offenders were given the mandatory minimum sentence that year.
So what does this tell us about the evolution of public relations?
Using a webcast cuts out the middle man (media) and gives Merseyside police total control over their message. It forces the media to report that the comments have been made on a webcast, driving traffic to their website and gives the public access to the full story not just the bits the press want to publish.
It has an added benefit in that it that the webcast remain online for a long time and can be shared. It will be interesting to see if others follow in the coming months. This is a good example of how digital media is impacting on how we communicate and disseminate our messages.
Leave a Reply